Otto H. Fruechte, who is engaged in the work of agricultural development in Winnebago township, as proprietor of a farm in section 31, was born in section 33, this township, May 24, 1868, son of Henry and Sophia Fruechte. Reared on his parents' farm, he acquired an average education in the common school of Eitzen, later taking a short course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Chicago, Ill. Marrying, on Feb. 18, 1892, Emily, daughter of Frederick and Christine Thies of Wilmington township, this county, he rented his father's farm, which he worked to the close of 1895. In the following spring he bought 120 acres in section 31, Winnebago township, which was an improved farm two miles northwest of Eitzen village, having a frame barn 40 by 60 feet, with half basement, a granary and corn cribs, besides other buildings. Mr. Fruechte has himself made more extensive improvements, having built a two story, nine-room frame house, consisting of an upright and wing; a machine shed, 24 by 40 feet, with a hog house in the basement; a wood house 12 by 20; poultry house 12 by 26; a garage 12 by 18, and a stave silo, 12 by 36. His teams, tools and operating equipment are all of the best, and the entire farm is in a good state of cultivation, the land being very productive. The farm is also well stocked with high grade Shorthorn cattle and Holsteins, and Duroc-Jersey hogs. Through his enterprise and industry Mr. Fruechte has made good progress on the road to fortune and is numbered among the prosperous citizens of his township. He owns a large Overland automobile, and is a shareholder in various local enterprises, including the Farmer's Co-Operative Co. of Eitzen, the Eitzen Co-Operative Creamery, the Caledonia Stock and Grain Co. and the Eitzen State Bank. He and his wife are the parents of five children: Frances, born Dec. 13, 1892; Herbert, June 22, 1897; Edwin, Nov. 5, 1900; Lulu, July 20, 1902, and Raymond, Jan. 3, 1911. Mr. Fruechte, is a prominent member of the German Evangelical Congregation at Eitzen, to which his family also belong.

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